Musings of a casual recreational VP player.

[FloridaPhil]

Leaving the casino with money left is a conscience decision.  This act can not turn a negative game positive.  However, it can keep you from the harm it causes to your attitude by going home broke 9 out of 10 times.  When this happens you make bad decisions.  You try to "fix" the problem with crazy schemes like playing single coin or doubling up when you haven't had a win in "X" number of hands.    These things work on occasion, but mostly they cause you to lose more money than you should.  CS worked for me for two years.  I also suffered through a bunch of short coins royals.  If it hadn't been for lucky pot shots, CS would have been a loser.I came to this conclusion last year and it turned my game around.   I now play below my bankroll.  When things don't work well, I switch games instead of playing bigger.  This keeps me from over playing my money and walking out broke.  I set low limits and stick to them.   I keep track of where I am and leave before I feed all my winnings back into the machines. On rare occasion, nothing works.  So far this year, the profits I have made on the good days have been greater than my losses.  I don't expect that to continue.  If it does, I'm not going to complain.What I am talking about is "attitude".  Attitude affects the decisions you make.  Most Recreational players walk out broke because they don't have a plan.  They do whatever feels good and keep playing until they are out of money.  I have a plan that works for me.  It lets me play VP without cleaning out my wallet and that makes me happy.

[Carcounter]

Count me as a recreational player who thinks winning is important. otherwise I would not keep detailed records.

[FloridaPhil]

I keep detailed records because I receive an occasional W2G.   I don't want them, but it happens.   I have been doing this since 2008.  I play at least one full day a week plus numerous casino vacations.  If I don't set limits and stick to them, I could be a "Diamond" Player with enough annual losses to buy a house.  I would rather buy a house and sell it for a profit instead.

[FAA]

W2G, what's that? I get one of those and I'm done for the year. I've taken a month off. Time for a trip tomorrow. PM to explore the jackpot time observations of fellow area members. If I must kill three hours at Tropicana on a film, so be it.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=FAA]


W2G, what's that?[/quote]You aren't missing much.    It's a piece of paper you put with your tax returns that tells the IRS you made too much money and they need to fix the problem.    Here's how it works.   Let's say you search all over town for a positive VP game.  Alas, you find one at $5 a coin.  Your edge is 5%.  What a bonanza you think!   You believe you can't lose, so you anti up $25 a hand.    After playing 39,000 hands for a total of $975,000 of your hard earned cash through the machines, you hit a royal right on time.  You can't believe your good fortune.   The math was right after all!  They hand you a W2G for $20K.  At the end of the year you discover the IRS wants 30 something percent of your profit.   If you're playing in a gambling tax State, you get to pay them too.  That's when you discover the only one playing that game with an edge was the Government.    If you are a net loser at the end of the year, you can write off your W2G winnings on your Federal taxes by itemizing your return.   If the IRS doesn't like your return for any reason, they can audit you.  At the end of your months long tax audit you may not owe the IRS anything.  Then your CPA hands you a huge bill for the accounting fees.  Ask me how I know.

[Waiting4RF]

Many nonprofessional players will not be able to write off W2Gs this year.

[FloridaPhil]

If you itemize your tax returns, you will still be able to offset your W2G winnings with losses.  If audited,  you must be able to back up your return with proper documentation.  Because of the new tax law, less people will itemize.  This means fewer people will be able to offset W2Gs.  If you don't itemize, the full amount of your winnings are subject to tax.To be clear, it's not the W2G taxes that I am concerned about.  It's the hassle and cost of an audit.  Our returns are very complicated.  When I was last audited it took two IRS agents 3 months to tell me I didn't owe them a dime.   My accountant bought a new Porsche right after I paid him for his time.  

[case]

W2G, what's that? I get one of those and I'm done for the year. I've taken a month off. Time for a trip tomorrow. PM to explore the jackpot time observations of fellow area members. If I must kill three hours at Tropicana on a film, so be it.


So FAA tell me if this is true. I assume you are a recreation player. So does this mean you just play for the enjoyment and winning doesn't really matter?

Also you don't really care about math so you just hold whatever cards you feel like. I mean this is how ALL rec players go about their plan when they head for the casino...or so I have been told. I mean it is all luck so who cares what cards you hold.

Tell me FAA....is this how all recreational players play?

[Waiting4RF]

Based on the definition of the recreational VP player, I consider myself a nonprofessional.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=case]Also you don't really care about math so you just hold whatever cards
you feel like. I mean this is how ALL rec players go about their plan
when they head for the casino...or so I have been told. I mean it is all
luck so who cares what cards you hold.[/quote]Case, informed Recreational video poker players aren't as stupid as you seem to think.  They have different priorities.  I consider myself in this category.  I own three copies of "Mr. Dancer's" VPW software.  I know the hand strategy for all the games I play and I use it.   I don't guess or use what some people call "special plays".   The mathematically correct play is good enough for me.  My wife adjusts her play slightly.  That's her business.I don't play VP for the long term.  I'm not interested in what happens 40,000 hands from now.  I care about what happens today.  My goal is to play as long as I can and come home with money left in my pockets.  If I leave with $300 and come back with $150 or more, I feel like I got my money's worth.  If I leave with $300 and go home broke, I'm unhappy.  I like being happy better than unhappy, so I always play with this goal in mind.  I cash out often and walk out ahead or even the majority of the time.To me playing video poker is just like going to a movie or a ball game except I have a chance of winning money.  Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, but I don't want to consistently pay $300 for a ticket.